Ministry of Culture
Major Achievements of Ministry of Culture in the last three years
The primary mandate of Ministry of Culture is preservation and conservation of ancient cultural heritage and promotion of tangible and intangible art and culture through its attached, subordinate and autonomous organisations. Its activities and programmes are accomplished under several broad cultural genres viz. Preservation and conservation of Archaeological sites, Museums and its artifacts, Public Libraries, Promotion and dissemination of Performing Arts, Buddhist and Tibetan studies, International Cultural Relation and construction of cultural complexes. The details of major achievements for the last three years are given here
Major Achievements of Ministry of Culture and its organizations for the year ending 2016, 2017 & 2018
1. E-ticketing- A cashless tool started for tourists at all ticketed monuments.
2. 100 Monuments Identified for Portal on “Must-See Monuments and Archaeological Sites of India” .
3. Excavation at the site near Saser La Pass in Ladakh at an altitude of about 13500-14000feet. Archaeological site development at PuranaQila , Kalibangan and Binjor , Lothal and Dholavira  and Sannathi , Conservation work outside India, in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. The Archaeological Survey of India  of Ministry of Culture discovered a hoard of 254 Copper Coins of medieval period in the premises of Khirki Mosque during the course of conservation of the monument.
4. The Archaeological Survey of India now allows photography within the premises of all centrally protected monuments/sites.
5. Ease of doing business – Website and Smart Smarac Mobile App for NMA Permissions.
6. Satellite Mapping of ASI Monuments with the support of ISRO done.
7. Retrieval of stolen antiquities  from abroad.
8. Swachh Bharat – SwachhSmarak-all ASI Protected Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites declared Polythene Free Zones. 25 ASI sites were launched as “AdarshSmarak” on 26th December, 2014. The ASI has ranked top 25 AdarshMonuments on the basis of Cleanliness parameters such as amenities like toilets, green lawns, Polythene Free Zone, signage for awareness, disabilities access, drinking water and provision for garbage bins etc. “Rani kiVav ” a World Heritage Site has been declared as the cleanest iconic place in the country.
9. Establishment of Pt. DeendayalUpadhyaya Institute of Archaeology, ASI.
10. Celebration of International Buddha PoornimaDiwas.Celebration of 75th Anniversary of Formation of Azad Hind Government in the Presence of Prime Minister.
11. The Tagore Awards for Cultural Harmony for the years 2014, 2015 & 2016 were conferred on the doyen of Manipuri dance Sh. RajkumarSinghajit Singh; Chhayanaut  and on one of India’s greatest sculptors, Sh. Ram VanjiSutar, respectively.
12. RashtriyaSanskritiMahotsav were held at New Delhi, Allahabad, Varanasi, Gujarat, Puducherry, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand etc.
13. Gandhi Heritage: Development of Dandi Heritage Path from Ahmedabad to Dandi and 21 Nigh Halt places have been completed. Up gradation and modernization of Gandhi Ashram Trust at Noakhali ; up gradation of the Gandhi SmarakSangrahalaya, Barrackpore, Kolkata; curating exhibition of permanent nature at Pietermaritzburg Railway Station, South Africa and creation of data base relating to Gandhi Heritage Sites have been completed National Salt Satyagraha Memorial at Dandi is scheduled to be inaugurated this month..
14. Festivals of India organized in approximately 37 Countries.
15. Khangchendzonga National Park  in Sikkim and The Capitol Complex in Chandigarh were also announced as World Heritage Sites.The historic walled city of Ahmedabad, dotted with 28 protected ASI sites was inscribed as India’s first heritage city by UNESCO on July 8, 2017.Mumbai's Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Building declared as World Heritage by UNESCO.
16. Release of Netaji Files
17. The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated a Digital Exhibition – “Uniting India :Sardar Patel” organized by the Ministry of Culture on the occasion of RashtriyaEktaDiwas- the birth anniversary of SardarVallabhbhai Patel, former Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of India in National Science Centre, New Delhi on 31st October 2016.
18. Commemorations have been celebrated of LalaLajpat Rai, MaharanaPratap, Rani Gaidinliu, Tatya Tope, BhishamSahni, 500 years of return of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to Vrindavan, 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind, birth centenary activities of PanditDeendayalUpadhyaya, 200th Anniversary of Paika Rebellion, 70th Anniversary of Indian Independence,Centenary of Champaran Satyagraha, Centenary of Sabarmati Ashram. Commemoration of 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi the Father of Nation commenced on 2nd October, 2018 both at national and international levels for a period of two years.550th Birth Anniversary Celebration of Shri Guru Nanak Dev ji. Release of commemorative coin in honour of Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Special Exhibition to Commemorate the 70 years of Accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India
19. The National School of Drama has hosted the 8th edition of Theatre Olympics in the year 2018.
20. A pilot version of the ‘Vedic Heritage’ Portal has been launched by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts .
21. Ministry of Culture also plans to create Virtual Experiential Museums to showcase the tangible and intangible heritage of the country. The first of these proposed museums is in the process of being commissioned at the Man Mahal, an early 17th century protected monument in Varanasi.
22. The Ministry of Culture, Government of India launched the new scheme namely ‘SevaBhojYojna’ on 01.08.2018, with a total outlay of Rs. 325.00 Crores for Financial Years 2018-19 and 2019-20.
23. Foundation stone laid for Museum on Prime Ministers of India in Delhi
The above information was given by Minister of State  for Culture and Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate change Dr. Mahesh Sharma, in reply to an Unstarred Question in the Rajya Sabha, today.